This has been the most difficult election season, at least since 1948, perhaps since 1860.
For that reason, may I request that, when someone didn’t vote the way you or I did, that we not automatically respond:
- “Oh, that means you don’t care at all about ____.”
- “Oh, you’re ignoring the sins of your candidate, and damning the sins of mine.”
- “Oh, you’re deluded by your choice of news outlet.”
- “Oh, you only look at information that backs your candidate.”
- “Oh, only imbeciles and morons vote for ____ (not my terms, I’m quoting).”
- “Oh, only people with zero education vote for____.” When I tell people I have a college education, some reply, “Well, there are plenty of stupid people with degrees, they don’t mean anything!”
- “Oh, you must be brainwashed or a ‘useful idiot’ or politically-correct or anti-politically-correct.”
- “Oh, you must be a lemming (or some other slow-witted mammal).”
- “Oh, why would you vote for the devil” or “the antichrist?”
- “Oh, you must be morally corrupt.”
- “Oh, you have an agenda! (And I sure don’t).”
- “Oh, you can’t possible be a Christian if you voted like that!”
- “Oh, God told me how to vote, so if you voted differently, you must not love the Lord!”
- “Oh, I prayed about my vote, and if you did not vote the same, you must not have prayed.”
- “Oh, that means you are a (communist, fascist, Nazi, etc.).”
- “Oh, you just threw your vote away (maybe on a Third-Party Candidate).”
These are all more or less quotes from things I’ve seen the last few days. From Christians and non-Christians.
Personally, I can’t think of anyone I know who found this election easy. Maybe you didn’t have to think hard about whom to choose, I certainly did. This isn’t a math problem, where 2 + 2 = 4 every time, there are hundreds of variables, and I know thoughtful people who have come up with different answers. That’s not “moral relativism,” it’s a nod to the difficulty of the problem we are trying to solve.
The Golden Rule would suggest that I should do unto others (I should assume they had wrestle through this) as I would have them do unto me (I want people to assume that I had to wrestle through this).
May we please – for the nation’s sake – assume until we hear otherwise, that perhaps, just perhaps, the person who voted for the other team really does care, really did look into things, and really did have to struggle about how to vote.
“The Golden Rule and Political Discussion,” by Gary S. Shogren, Professor of New Testament, Seminario ESEPA, San José, Costa Rica
Open Our Eyes, Lord! 